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As a journalist I have written about social issues and international affairs for the Guardian, the Independent, New Internationalist, Huffington Post, Equal Times and the Big Issue in the North, among other titles. I now work at the University of Leeds as a qualified careers professional, helping international students fulfill their career ambitions

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(Originally published by Equal Times) Translations: Spanish | French Six out of seven people live in countries in which civic
freedoms are under threat, according to a report by the global alliance of civil society organisations, CIVICUS. The 2015 State of Civil Society report claims CSOs around
the world face a funding crisis
and have also been affected by attacks on freedom of expression in what CIVICUS chief executive, Dr Dhananjayan
Sriskandarajah, describes as an “untenable situation.” Head of Policy and Advocacy
at CIVICUS, Mandeep Tiwana, told Equal
Times CSOshave struggled to cope
on the frontline of numerous major humanitarian emergencies over the past year,
including the Ebola crisis and the bombing of Gaza: “Although civil society
organisations (CSOs) have been consistently proving their value in relation to
global crises including humanitarian relief in disaster situations, conflict
resolution, post conflict reconstruction and addressing the pervasive global
democratic deficit,…

Two months ago nobody predicted that Jeremy Corbyn's Labour
leadership campaign would morph into the political movement is has since
become. But while it looks increasingly likely that he willwin the contest, his detractors within the Labour party
are growing anxious. Corbyn, they tell us, is unelectable and what Britain
really wants is a (Blairite) centre ground politician capable of winning
general elections. Here are five reasons why they are wrong: Corbyn occupies the centre ground:Alistair
Campbell recentlywarned Labour membersthat Corbyn is espousing "positions
that the public just are not going to accept in many of the seats that Labour
is going to have to win to get back in power." However, like many of
Corbyn's Blairite detractors, he declined to mention which policies he was
referring to. This is because Campbell and his friends are aware that across a
range of key issues - including foreign policy, the economy and the
na…